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Gas Pipeline Project
Naxal violence key factor in 6th phase
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Kalam to visit UP today
Lucknow, May 1 In the midst of campaign frenzy for the seventh and final phase of polling, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will visit Kushinagar and Pratapgarh districts of the state during his one-day trip tomorrow. Kumaraswamy committed; Gowda has other plans
Bomb scare: Airports in TN, Kerala on high alert
Parliamentary panel raps govt for workers’ plight
More water supply to rural areas
Tribune Impact
India’s proposal accepted at IPU
Custody of IPS officers extended
Nithari victims’ parents move
court against CBI
Admiral Gorshkov delivery will be delayed: Navy chief
Gill’s remark on graft sparks row
Nitish admits police can’t ensure crime-free society
Qayyum, Azad discuss ways to improve ties
Search order against media baron set aside
Lookout notice for Dawood’s sister GM crops: NGOs question officials’ role
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Gas Pipeline Project
New Delhi, May 1 "We have made very good progress in narrowing the differences and the June-end deadline for signing of a tripartite agreement looks achievable," a senior petroleum ministry official said. Pakistan has climbed down from its earlier demand of $1.57 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) to $0.70-0.75 per mBtu as transportation tariff. India is willing to pay not more than $0.55 per mBtu ($220 million annually). On transit fee, Islamabad is seeking $0.493 per mBtu while New Delhi has offered $0.20 per mBtu. "We are confident that we will be able to bring it down," a senior petroleum ministry official said. "Transportation tariff and transit fee have huge bearing on the cost of gas. The price of gas as per the tariff proposed by us will be $5.68 per mBtu at Indo-Pak border. Had Pakistan's original demand been accepted, the price would have been $7 per mBtu," the official said. Iran wants to sell natural gas to India and Pakistan at $4.93 per mBtu (at $60 per barrel crude oil price). Transportation tariff and transit fee are in addition to this price. Differences over the tariff that India is to pay for transporting gas from Iran through the 1,035-km pipeline segment in Pakistan and the transit fee payable to Islamabad for allowing its territory to be used for the passage of the pipeline had threatened to derail the $7.4-billion project. Iran and India are "determined" to sign a contract to build a natural-gas pipeline via Pakistan by June 30 after Indian petroleum minister Murli Deora stressed on it during his recent meeting with Iranian president in Tehran. The pipeline, which is yet to receive clear pledges of funding, has been in the planning stage for more than a decade. The US wants India to shun the project to isolate Iran, which it says is trying to make nuclear weapons.
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Naxal violence key factor in 6th phase
Lucknow, May 1 Besides the caste-ridden mafia and muscle power-dominated election process in the state, the coming phase has the additional problem of Naxal presence to deal with. Of the nine districts going to the polls on May 3, three - Chandauli, Sonbhadra and Mirzapur - are considered “sensitive to Naxal violence”. DGP G.L. Sharma visited the Naxal-prone districts last week and ordered the posting of additional forces. As the region is adjacent to Bihar, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, the borders to these neighbouring states would be sealed off to prevent to and fro movement of any kind, informed the DGP. Besides the 52 Vidhan Sabha constituencies byelections are also taking place for the two Lok Sabha seats at Mirzapur and Robertsganj. In both places, 11 candidates are testing their political fortunes. Both Robertsganj MP Lalchand Kol and Mrizapur MP Naresh Kushwaha were disqualified after their names figured in the cash-for-question scam. For the 52 Vidhan Sabha seats, there are 785 candidates in the fray. Notable among them are BJP state president Kesharinath Tripathi, Mahila Congress president Rita Bahuguan Joshi and state environment minister Ujjwal Raman Singh besides don-turned- politician Dhananjay Singh. The BJP’s strategic alliance with the Sonelal Patel’s Apna Dal is also expected to bring the desired returns in this phase. Claiming to have a base amongst the Kurmis of the region, Apna Dal that had won three seats from this region last time, has been doled out nine seats in this phase by alliance partner BJP. The other alliance partner Sharad Yadav’s Janata Dal (United) has also got one seat. Two widows whose husbands were sitting MLAs in the outgoing Vidhan Sabha and had met with violent deaths are also claiming their husband’s political legacy. They are BSP MLA Raju Pal’s wife Puja Pal from Allahabad and BJP MLA Krishnand Rai’s widow Alka Rai from Muhamadabad in Ghazipur. While Alka had won the byelection soon after her husband’s death in November 2005, Puja had lost to her husband’s political rival and the main accused in his murder Ashraf, brother of SP MP and strongman Atiq Ahmad. In 2002, the Samajwadi Party had won 20 of these 52 seats, while the BSP had claimed 15, the BJP 11, Apna Dal three, CPM one and Independent one.
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Kalam to visit UP today
Lucknow, May 1 In Kushinagar, the President will attend a programme to mark the 2500th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. According to official sources, Dr Kalam will join the 2551st jayanti celebrations of Lord Buddha at 11 am at Kushinagar’s Lilavati stadium. He will also address monks assembled in the ceremony. Besides, he will inaugurate a Thai hospital and make a visit to Ramabhar Stupa. Dr Kalam will also visit Parinirvaan Mandir to release “Vhoti Hindi” dictionary. Later, the President will visit Pratapgarh, the “anwala capital” of the country, to take a look at an anwala orchard and inspect its processing into various user-friendly consumables like candy, pickles, jam, etc. at the Integrated Agricultural Production in Sarai Sultani. At a programme to be organised by the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation, Dr Kalam will address farmers and participate in an event related to the integrated rural development programme (IRDP) in the Raniganj area of the district.
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Kumaraswamy committed; Gowda has other plans
Bangalore, May 1 Under the understanding with the BJP, Kumaraswamy still has five months left as chief minister before he hands over power to the BJP, which will also get a 20-month go at the chief minister’s chair. Kumaraswamy said Congress leaders were imagining things and making statements that were not based on facts. He said he did not have any problem with the BJP and that it was too premature to talk about change in the political equations. He maintained that he would extend his co-operation to deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa to become the next chief minister. Though Gowda senior has been making noises for the past over one month that his party will only hand over power to the BJP if it sticks to the coalition mantra without specifically naming any transgression, a statement made by former Congress chief minister N. Dharam Singh has created a flutter in the state. He yesterday said there would be a major upheaval in the state politics after the UP poll.
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US delegation meets Lalu
New Delhi, May 1 A 16-member delegation from the Washington-based Industrial College of the Armed Forces is on a four-day visit to India to study the financial system. The transformation of the Indian Railways will be the focus of the study. The delegation, led by Dr David G. Blair, Professor of Economics and Director, Financial Services Industry Studies, comprises middle and senior-level civil and foreign service officers besides distinguished members from the US Army and Air Force. The members of the delegation have been sent by their respective offices to attend the 10-month course at the college. After their field visits, the group is given two-week to write a 20-page paper on their visit. At the end of a 45-minute interaction with Lalu Prasad at the Rail Bhavan today, the leader of the delegation was convinced that the Indian Railway's turnaround is “a lesson for several state-owned companies across the world.” Dr Blair, who spent a month in India in December-January to study the transformation of Indian Railways told The Tribune: “The lesson from the Indian Railways is that it is possible to bring about a transformation in the system without breaking too many eggs. They have been able to make smart little changes that have made a huge difference,” he observed. He said it was commendable that the Indian Railways had succeeded in bringing about dramatic changes in its performance without any disruptions as firing staff, eliminating routes or increasing passenger fares.
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Lalu’s no to cut in railway workforce
New Delhi, May 1 Lalu chose May Day to announce this to the media to drive home the message that he values every employee in the large railway family. He said at Rail Bhavan here today on his interaction with a delegation from the Washington-based Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Lalu said that the two railway unions have also written to the PM supporting his stand.
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Bomb scare: Airports in TN, Kerala on high alert
Chennai/Thiruvanthapuram, May 1 Airport sources in Chennai said an anonymous caller rang up a police station at Mangalore to say that ‘a human bomb’ travelling in the Doha-Chennai-Qatar Airways flight would blow up after the flight landed here. The Karnataka DGP, who was informed about the call, alerted his Tamil Nadu counterpart D Mukherjee. Bomb disposal squads, along with sniffer dogs, frisked all 177 people on board the Qatar Airways plane and combed the aircraft for nearly two hours and found no explosives. Following the call, security was beefed up at Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli airports in Tamil Nadu and at all the three international airports in adjacent Kerala following the phone call. Security personnel at Thiruvanthanpuram, Kochi and Kozhikode airports thoroughly searched some flights which arrived from the Gulf and found no explosive in them, airport sources said The luggage of passengers were also checked before the flights were allowed to take off. The flights searched were Doha-Thiruvanthapuram-Kozhikode service of Air India Express and Qatar Airways’ Doha-Thiruvananthapuram-Doha, airport sources said. The checks, however, did not cause inordinate delay in the departure of the flights, the sources said.
— PTI
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Parliamentary panel raps govt for workers’ plight
New Delhi, May 1 The Parliament’s Standing Committee on Labour headed by S. Sudhakar Reddy said though the government had enacted several laws and schemes for the welfare of workers in the organised sector, “much needs to be done” for workers in the unorganised sector. He said studies by various committees and groups have projected the plight of workers in the unorganised sector and called for substantial measures for improvement of their lot and providing them some sort of protection. “But not much progress has been made in the matter,” the 83-page report said. The unorganised workers contribute about 60 per cent to the GDP. Union labour minister Oscar Fernandes, in his May Day message, said that besides enacting a legislation for providing them social security, “the government wants to effectively implement some of the important legislations enacted for their welfare”. However, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said the country’s economic policies were being pressurised by "US imperialism" and this "intrusion" was posing a big challenge to the working class of the country. Addressing a May Day gathering at the CPM headquarters here, party general secretary Prakash Karat said the entry of foreign investment in the country was reflective of this US pressure. "It is not about one government. It is about the policies of the ruling class. Whether it is the present Congress-led government or the previous BJP regime. This US intrusion is a big challenge to the trade union movement and should be fought unitedly," Karat added. He said the penetration of US policies was evident in sectors like education and other key areas besides in the economic policies of the country.
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More water supply to rural areas
New Delhi, May 1 The Ministry of Rural Development has sanctioned Rs. 8.81 crore to Punjab government towards part payment of first instalment of funds against the provisional allocation of Rs 52.91 crore made for the state under accelerated rural water supply programme of Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission during the year 2007-08. It has also sanctioned Rs 15.99 crore to the Chhattisgarh government towards part of first instalment of funds against the provisional allocation of Rs 95.95 crore made for the state under the scheme during 2007-08. Up to 15 per cent of funds released under this sanction may be utilised for operation maintenance and up to 5 per cent of funds may be spent for taking sustainability measures. States have been requested to delegate powers for management of rural water supply schemes through the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIS). An official spokesman said that the money is being made available for executing schemes to provide safe drinking water facilities to rural habitations and schools under the ARSWP.
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Tribune Impact
Dehra Dun, May 1 The assurance came during the meeting of the CM, who holds the IT portfolio, with state NCP president Suryakant Dhasmana, who demanded the fixing of responsibility of the bureaucrats concerned for the failure of the projects. Dhasmana brought the case into the notice of the CM in writing along with the copy of the news item in which The Tribune highlighted the case in its April 12 edition. A detailed study was conducted by the national informatics centre (NIC) into purchase, installation and use of computer hardware, system software and peripherals worth Rs 14 crore on the directions of the chief secretary in September 2006. The CS initiated the study but no action was taken so far. The study had termed the e-governance projects in the five government departments of forests, social welfare, urban development, food and civil supplies, collectorate and tehsils (revenue) as a “total failure”.
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India’s proposal accepted at IPU
New Delhi, May 1 Original Indian proposal "Combating financing of terrorism-the need to strengthen international cooperation" was modified to "International Cooperation to combat terrorism, its root causes and its financing, including cross-border funding", and adopted after hectic lobbying by the Indian delegation led by Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Charanjit Singh Atwal, a Lok Sabha press release said here today. There were proposals from
Mexico, Algeria, Iran and Indonesia, the release said. Sponsoring this emergency item on behalf of the Indian delegation, former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah thanked the Mexican, Algerian, Iranian and Indonesian delegations for their cooperation and informed the gathering that terrorism continued to pose a grave threat to international peace and security and financing terrorism has played a crucial role in the commission of terrorist acts. She pointed out that an easy flow of finds enabled terrorist to plan and execute their activities and urged the international community to effectively and constantly monitor the flow of funds to terrorists and take effective action to close off those channels. The proposal moved by India was approved by the Assembly unanimously and committed the same to the Drafting Committee, the release said.
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Custody of IPS officers extended
Ahmedabad, May 1 D.G. Vanjhara, deputy inspector general, Gujarat Border Range, R.K. Pandian, superintendent in Intelligence Bureau, and Dinesh Kumar, Rajasthan police, were produced before chief metropolitan magistrate K.J. Upadhyay. The prosecution had sought ten-day police custody on the grounds that they needed time for further interrogation to unearth the “motive and conspiracy”. Time was also sought to probe into the case property which was supposedly used in the crime. The three police officials were arrested on April 24 for allegedly killing Soharabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and eye-witness Tulsiram Prajapati in separate shootouts. Defence counsel Mitesh Amin argued that no further custody should be granted since the prosecution has not cited any fresh reasons for the same. Besides, the accused were fully cooperating and not hampering the investigation, he argued. Meanwhile, a large number of villagers from Ilol in Sabarkantha district, from where Vanjhara hails, gathered in the court and raised slogans in support of the arrested IPS officer. The apex court will decide on Thursday on a CBI probe into the incident. — UNI
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Nithari victims’ parents move court against CBI
Ghaziabad, May 1 A petition was filed in the court of special CBI Judge Sapna Mishra here by the parents of Payal (22), Pinki Sarkar (14) and Payal (14) demanding reinvestigation of the case. The petition, filed collectively last Saturday, accused the CBI of not making a sincere investigation. The hearing of the bail applications of Pandher and dismissed sub-inspector Simranjit Kaur has meanwhile been deferred to May 4. Their defence counsel today deposed before the court of Additional District Judge Rama Jain that they required more time to file evidence in support of the bail pleas. The application of Kaur has been rejected earlier while co-accused Surinder Koli has not applied for bail. — PTI
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Admiral Gorshkov delivery will be delayed: Navy chief
Mumbai, May 1 He, however, insisted that the delivery would be delayed by just a few months. “We expect the aircraft carrier to be delivered by late 2008 or early 2009,” Admiral Mehta said. He denied that the delivery would stretch to 2010. The chief said the ship was undergoing refurbishing according to the schedule. Admiral Mehta, who was here to attend the investiture ceremony of officers, gave his remarks after being questioned by reporters on the fate of the new aircraft carrier. The chief insisted that Indian officials stationed at the spot had reported good progress. He attributed the delay to cold Russian winter when the port would be frozen. Last year, Viktor Shestov, deputy director of the Sevmashpredpriyatiye shipyard in Severodvinsk, where the 44,500-tonne Kiev-class carrier is being refitted, told Jane’s Defence Weekly that the refit of Admiral Gorshkov had “dropped behind schedule due to extensive structural work”. According to Shestov, engineers at the shipyard detected “serious faults in some structures”. Under the Indian Navy’s original schedule, the ship is to be inducted in 2008- end when its only aircraft carrier INS Viraat is decommissioned. With the delay in receiving Admiral Gorshkov, INS Viraat is likely to see an extension of service. The purchase of Admiral Gorshkov has been controversial with a section of the Navy questioning the need for purchasing the aircraft carrier.
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Gill’s remark on graft sparks row
Raipur, May 1 The Congress “thanked” Gill, a former director-general of Punjab police, for exposing chinks in the state police armour, saying the opposition parties had been raising the issue of corruption in the police since long. Gill had told a Mumbai newspaper in an interview that as security adviser he had failed to bring down violence in Naxalite-affected areas of Chhattisgarh because of the “rampant corruption in the recruitment and transfer of policemen, red-tape and poor governance” in the state. He had claimed that he submitted dozens of proposals to the state government on tackling the Naxalite menace, but most of them were ignored. Asked about Gill’s remarks, home minister Ram Vichar Netam said it was not true that the government had ignored the suggestions put forth by Gill.
— UNI
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Nitish admits police can’t ensure crime-free society
Patna, May 1 The said observation by him came in the wake of the growing cases of kidnappings and murders in past few weeks and the related declining number of convictions of criminals in April this year. Talking to the media here, Nitish pointed out nobody in the world should expect a 100 per cent success by the police leading to a crime-free society. Faced with a severe criticism from the opposition over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state against his promised good governance, Nitish claimed most of the criminal cases were found to be related to personal enmity. Both leader of Opposition Rabri Devi and state Congress chief Sadanand Singh charged Nitish with failing to keep his promise to make Bihar a crime-free state. However,what was reportedly worrying the ruling NDA more was that even speedy trials through fast track courts, which saw a record conviction of 1,234 people in December last and over 800 in March this year even failed to act as a deterrent for the criminals.
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Qayyum, Azad discuss ways to improve ties
New Delhi, May 1 The meeting, coming days after Qayyum met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is being seen as an indication by the two sides to increase efforts to remove past misgivings and create an atmosphere of confidence and trust. Qayyum, whose son is the Prime Minister of PoK, is the supreme leader of the ruling Muslim Conference. Sources said Qayyum took up issues raised in yesterday’s joint statement at the end of the intra-JK talks, including amnesty to those in jails in Jammu and Kashmir and safe passage to militants. They discussed ways to strengthen the ongoing peace process. |
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Search order against media baron set aside
Hyderabad, May 1 Terming the search operations on Margadarsi premises as “improper”, a single judge of the high court, Justice Yethirajulu, directed the CID officials to hand over all records to the company.
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Karnataka not to allow sex education
Bangalore, May 1
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Lookout
notice for Dawood’s sister
Mumbai, May 1 Haseena, who was wanted by the Mumbai police in an extortion case, has been missing and the police feel she may escape the country via the sea route. A non-bailable arrest warrant for Haseena has been issued by a Mumbai court but the police haven't yet been able to catch her. Like other relatives of Dawood Ibrahim, Haseena has no legal passport issued in her name. Police officials feel that Pakistan's ISI may have prepared fake travel documents for Haseena and other members of the Dawood family. — TNS
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GM crops: NGOs question officials’ role Chandigarh, May 1 The kheti virasat mission based in Faridkot and the centre for sustainable agriculture based in Hyderabad in a statement today said the regulators --- government officials --- were meant to make an objective, scientific and pro-people assessment of the impact of such crops rather than trying to popularise these through seminars like the one held in Chandigarh yesterday. The two NGOs, which are part of the coalition for GM-free India, also questioned the role of the World Bank in such projects, one of which was being implemented by the ministry of environment and forests through the global environment facility. "It is not clear on what basis claims of benefits such as pesticide reduction or farmers shifting from water-guzzling crops like rice are being made. Field trials are completely absent or unscientific in this country”, said Kavitha Kuruganti from the centre for sustainable agriculture. Hundreds of farmers were reporting health problems like skin allergies but the government chose not to assess such impact and therefore would always claim that there was no authentic report. A report from Madhya Pradesh by a team of doctors had been submitted. Already, the animal husbandry department of Andhra Pradesh had advised farmers not to graze their animals on Bt cotton fields, suspecting some yet-to-be-identified toxin in the plant, she added. Umendra Dutt of the kheti virasat mission, Punjab, said one could not get enthusiastic about GM crops without setting up effective systems or without actually building capacities related to bio-safety assessment and without justifying the source of claims. Dutt criticised the role of the Punjab state council for science and technology for facilitating the seminar on GM crops in the state. The council was serving corporate interests, he alleged. Funds collected from tax-payers were being spent on popularising the technology and creating more markets for the companies in the name of training on bio-safety, the NGOs added.
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